The 25 Worst Sports Teams In History

Some teams are really good at being good, while other teams are also really good…at being bad. But who wants to be just average anyway? At least if you’re really bad you get recognition for something. Besides, who’s ever ranked the top 25 most average sports teams in the world? That’s what we thought, which is why we’re here to bring you the 25 worst sports teams in history.

25

1973 Houston Oilers

Giving up a whopping 447 points, the Oilers also had a certain player, Dan Pastorini, who broke the NFL record for the number of times he was sacked. Before the season was over he broke it again…twice.

24

Prairie View Football

With an extended history of being the worst team in college football they actually didn’t win a single game between 1989 and 1998 setting an absurdly high record of 80 consecutive losses.

23

1971 Buffalo Bills

lauriekendrick.wordpress.com

The definition of ineptitude, their offense and defense were both the worst in the league and the only notable thing this team accomplished was being shutout four times. By some miracle though, they did actually manage to win 1 game.

22

1952 Dallas Texans

sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Sticking around for only one season, the Dallas Texans had some serious trouble finding the end zone. Fan turnout was so bad that head coach Jim Phelan even suggested instead of being introduced on the field, each player should go into the stands and shake hands with all the fans individually.

21

2007 New Jersey Institute of Technology Basketball Team

NBCsports

One of the worst sports teams of the new millennium, NJIT failed to win a single game during the 2007-2008 season, breaking the NCAA record for most losses in a season with 29.

1939 St. Louis Browns

Even 70 years later this is still one of the worst MLB teams of all time. With a final record of 43-111, the team had an ERA of over 6.00.

19

1935 Boston Braves

sportsillustrated.cnn.com

You know a team is bad when they have one of the sport’s greatest players ever (Babe Ruth) and still finish 38-115. When Ruth left, however, it was reported that people just quit coming to games and against the Dodgers there were only 95 people in the stands.

18

1980 New Orleans Saints

bleacherreport.com

Although in recent years the Saints have seen great success, in 1980 things were a little different. To give you a better idea of just how different, their leading rusher, Jimmy Rogers, racked up 366 yards…for the entire season.

17

1979-1982 Northwestern Wildcats

hoopniks.com

Between the years of 1979 and 1982 this was arguably the worst team in college football. They were so bad that after losing to Michigan State their fans actually rushed the field, tore down the goalposts, and marched through the town shouting, “We’re the worst”.

16

2007 Miami Dolphins

Nearly going winless for the season, the Dolphins left it to the notoriously bad 2008 Detroit Lions (#8) to be the first team in history to not win a single game.

15

1998 US Men's National Soccer Team

goal.com

We’re still not really sure how this team managed to be so awful in spite of having a roster chock-full of talent. In the 1998 World Cup they came in 32nd (out of 32 teams).

14

1942 Detroit Lions

Shutout 5 times, the Detroit Lions only scored 38 points the entire season. As terrible as it was, however, the Lions weren’t done and somehow managed to secure themselves another spot on our list at #8 half a century later.

13

1998 Denver Nuggets

bleacherreport.com

Allowing 100.8 points per game and only scoring 89, it was a mathematical certainty that the 1998 Denver Nuggets would be a very, very bad team. And they proved it too by pulling off an inexplicable 11 wins for the entire year.

12

1960 Dallas Cowboys

guymanningham.com

Likely a result of being admitted too late to participate in the draft, the Cowboy’s inaugural season was one to forget as they were annihilated by some of the most laughable teams in the NFL, including the Washington Redskins.

11

1988 Baltimore Orioles

Losing their first 21 games, the Baltimore Orioles were so bad that the President of the United States of America even called to offer his sympathies. What more can be said?

10

1992 Dallas Mavericks

nydailynews.com

Famously bad, the Mavericks came within only a few games of doing what the world thought was impossible – being worse than the #3 team on our list.

9

2001 Carolina Panthers

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A total disaster, the Panthers went 1-15 for the season, breaking the record for most consecutive losses in NFL history. Fortunately for them within 7 years the unthinkable would happen – an even worse team would break it yet again. Coming in at #8, allow us to introduce you to the…

8

2008 Detroit Lions

playerpress.com

There really isn’t much to say here except that anyone who goes a record setting 0-16 in one of America’s favorite sports has a spot reserved on our list.

7

2003 Detroit Tigers

Losing more games than any other team in American league history, the 2003 Detroit Tigers came within one game of tying the unfathomably bad 1962 New York Mets for most losses in modern MLB history.

6

1990 New England Patriots

nationallampoon.com

In a nationally televised game against the Washington Redskins the nation watched in astonishment as the Patriots trailed 9-0 without the Redskins running a single offensive play. Finishing with a 1-15 record the Patriot’s 1990 season can be summed up in one word…embarrassment.

5

1974 Washington Capitals

sportsillustrated.cnn.com

The Capitals had a record breaking first season, in a very bad way. Their list includes most road losses, most consecutive losses, and a .131 winning percentage that is still the worst in league history.

4

1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

sportsfullcircle.com

Okay, so it was their first season, but still, this team didn’t even manage to put points on the scoreboard until their third game and didn’t get a touch down until their fourth. In fact, they were the first team in NFL history to not win or tie a single game.

3

1972 76ers

nydailynews.com

Winning only 9 games out of an 82 game schedule, they also had 4 losing streaks of 13 games or more and even earned themselves the nickname “9 and 73ers”.

2

1962 New York Mets

newyorkmets.org

Chronicled in Jimmy Breslin’s book Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game? these guys have gone down as one of the worst teams in baseball history. In fact, their 120 losses were the most by an team since 1899, which brings us to our final contestant…

1

1899 Cleveland Spiders

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Rumored to be one of the worst team ever, in any sport, period. This team could barely get others to come and play against them and they only had 42 home games because no one cared enough to come watch.

List25 compiles lesser-known intriguing information on variety of subjects. List25 was started by Syed Balkhi in 2011. The main prupose of this site is to be educational while entertaining at the same time. It's 25 because we don't like top 10 lists. Read more …